WEBVTT

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if your computer just doesn't seem to be working correctly and you're out of

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ideas try this open up Windows device manager and look for anything marked

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with a yellow exclamation point you'll usually find them under a section called

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other devices but what does that mean and how do you fix it well in modern

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versions of Windows the operating system can automatically recognize most of the

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hardware inside or attached to it this is possible because each device you

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connect to your PC has a unique identifier built into it that tells

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Windows hey I'm a pixel 7 or I'm an RTX

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4080 or I'm a USB mouse Jiggler designed to make it look like my owner is working

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after Windows identifies what the device is it can install the correct driver

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which is a piece of software that helps the device communicate with your

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computer now some drivers are pre-loaded into Windows While others can be

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downloaded from Windows update meaning that you usually don't have to think

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that much about making sure you have the correct drivers so then what's the deal

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with these exclamation points well occasion generally this identification

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process can go wrong Windows also doesn't have drivers for absolutely

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everything and in some cases a device can just straight up malfunction leaving

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you with a rather cryptic error the simplest thing to do in these cases is

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to run a Windows update cycle to see if the system can fetch the driver

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automatically on the second try but if that doesn't work there are still a few

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other steps you can take if it's unclear what exactly the problematic device is

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say if it's labeled unknown device you

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can double click on it then click the details tab in the drop down menu select

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Hardware IDs then copy paste the result into a web search that should help you

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identify both the manufacturer of the device and the exact part number which

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allows you to go to the manufacturer's website download and at least attempt to

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install the current driver for it in most cases that should solve your

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problem but what if it doesn't if a missing driver isn't the cause of your

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error there are things you can do and we're going to tell you right after we

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of those situations where the oldest piece of advice in the book can also be

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the most helpful try taking that problem device which you've already identified

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unplugging it and plugging it back in you can either quite literally do this

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or you can do a bit of a soft unplug and

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plug-in by right-clicking the Troublesome Gadget selecting uninstall

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then rebooting your PC with the device plugged in to see if it gets recognized

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properly the second time around sadly though this tried and true method isn't

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foolproof and if you're still having issues you might have a setting

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somewhere that is interfering with your Hardware this is particularly common

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with USB devices so what you can do is try going into your power options from

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the Legacy control panel clicking change plan settings then change Advanced power

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settings under USB settings set USB selective suspend to disabled and reboot

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your system once again this could help the system properly recognize that Rogue

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device but failing that updating the firmware of your PC or of the device

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itself or updating your BIOS might get the error to disappear if it doesn't you

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might still be okay though because having one of these errors in device manager doesn't always indicate a show

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stopping problem there are some programs that can cause unknown devices to pop up

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these tend to be programs like virtual machines or vpns that install well

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virtual hardware and in some cases even

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after you've uninstalled these programs some of these entries can remain in

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there but with the dreaded yellow exclamation point of Doom in which case

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you can usually just uninstall them from the device manager window without too

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much drama if it's not a virtual device by this point it is possible in a

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probable that you have a device that either is no longer functioning

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correctly or simply doesn't have available drivers for your operating

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system this is particularly common when you move from semi-compatible operating

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systems like from Windows 8 to Windows 10 or from Windows 10 to Windows 11. you

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can sometimes Force the previous operating system driver to install and

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that can fix it but in other cases you might be just Plum out of luck and it's

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time for an upgrade if that's not the case though if you have one of these

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stubborn errors and you just can't get it to go away but your PC is working

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normally there is always the option of leaving it and growing into the type of

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person who's okay with that I mean our imperfections are make us special right

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just like this imperfect outro like or dislike leave a comment if you have a

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suggestion for a future video and don't forget to subscribe